Definitions

Pecuniary penalties are monetary fines imposed and collected by civil courts. The civil standard of proof is applied (namely the balance of probabilities).

A number of factors are taken into account by the Court in determining the appropriate fine or level of penalty. The calculation of the monetary amount of a penalty is dependent on ‘penalty units’ that are set out in the Crimes Act 1914. The value of a penalty unit is currently $210.

Breaches attracting fines and penalties

Bans

A person who supplies a product or product related service which is the subject of a ban may be found guilty of a criminal offence. The maximum fine is:

$500 000 for individuals

For a body corporate, the greater of:

$10 000 000

three times the value of the benefit received, or

10% of annual turnover in the preceding 12 months, if a court cannot determine the benefit obtained from the offence.

Civil penalties of the same amounts also apply.

Standards

A supplier may be found guilty of a criminal offence if they fail to comply with a mandatory safety or information standard. The maximum fine is:

$500 000 for individuals

For a body corporate, the greater of:

$10 000 000

three times the value of the benefit received, or

10% of annual turnover in the preceding 12 months, if a court cannot determine the benefit obtained from the offence.

Civil penalties for the same amounts also apply.

Where a safety standard specifies two or more sets of requirements for complying with the standard, the supplier must, if requested by a regulator, provide a notice specifying which of those sets of requirements it intends to comply with. The maximum fine for failing to do so is:

$4400 for individuals

$22 000 for a body corporate.

This is an offence of strict liability.

Recalls

A person who refuses or fails to comply with a recall notice may be found guilty of a criminal offence. The maximum fine is:

$500 000 for individuals

For a body corporate, the greater of:

$10 000 000

three times the value of the benefit received, or

10% of annual turnover in the preceding 12 months, if a court cannot determine the benefit obtained from the offence.

Civil penalties of the same amounts also apply.

This is an offence of strict liability.

Mandatory reporting

Suppliers must notify the Commonwealth minister within 2 days of becoming aware that a person suffered serious injury, illness or death associated with a consumer good or product-related service they have supplied in Australia, or overseas.

A supplier who fails to notify the Commonwealth minister within 2 days of becoming aware of the incident may be found guilty of a criminal offence. The maximum fine is:

$3330 for individuals

$16 650 for a body corporate.

This is an offence of strict liability, which means that a court does not have to find that a person intended not to notify the minister in order to find them guilty.

Resolving breaches of product safety regulations

When a product safety regulator finds that a supplier is supplying consumer goods or product related services that breach a mandatory standard or are banned, the regulator's priority is to ensure that the hazardous goods or product related services are removed from the marketplace. The ACCC or a state or territory regulator will inform the suppliers involved.

After receiving the information, the ACCC or state or territory regulator is likely to require that suppliers take action to recall the goods, including:

immediately stopping the supply of the consumer goods or product related services

remove the goods from retail outlets

retrieve the consumer goods from throughout the supply chain and from consumers.

An assessment will then be made of what compliance and enforcement action may be appropriate in the circumstances. How Australian regulators respond and what sort of action they take depends on a range of factors including:

the seriousness of the safety hazard – how much damage it has caused or is likely to cause